System of sustainability indicators for waste management and its impact on human health

Abstract

The great changes that occurred in recent decades stimulate discussions about a new development model which aims to ensure the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations. One of the areas directly related to the concept of sustainable development is the waste management that decisively becomes part of the political and administrative agendas of all sectors, including the health area. In Brazil, the new National Policy of Solid Waste (PNRS) has several principles that must be respected to achieve an integrated waste management. Investment in new researches which help in this process of change may justify the taking of decisions of public managers in the health area and environment, guiding not only in the legal requirements, but also in the awareness regarding sustainable development and human health. This research aimed to elaborate a system of sustainability indicators for waste management from the application of the Delphi technique, searching the consensus among health experts. The indicators will be organized from the perspective of social, environmental, economic, institutional, and health dimensions, being used a scale for measuring the degree of importance. To analyze the consensus among experts, a descriptive analysis will be used in each stage, resulting in the development of the Delphi panel. The construction of the indicators will be according to the PNRS guidelines, aiming to get indicators to help the public health policies related to the achievement of better environmental and health conditions in the current context.